Prof. Susan Greenfield (Univ. of Oxford) discusses what it is that makes humans different from the rest of the animal world. She focuses on the human ability to work towards long-term goals and observes the results of damage to the frontal lobe of the brain, which seems to be the location of this skill. But planning is not a uniquely human skill - chimpanzees in a study by the University of Georgia demonstrated that they too can do this. Humans, however, have developed language which accounts for the rapid development of our culture; but some scientists argue that chimps, too, are capable of acquiring language. There seems to be a missing link between chimpanzees and humans, indicated by the post-Neanderthal appearance of new kinds of tools indicating a development from modular mental ability to lateral thinking. Among those taking part in the programme are Dr. Adrian Owen (MRC Cognition and Brain Sciences Unit, Cambridge) and Prof. Michael Gazzaniga (Dartmouth College, New Hampshire U.S).

Professor Susan Greenfield, a leading neuroscientist from Oxford University introduces the human brain in the first of this six part documentary by the BBC.

This episode puts emotions under the microscope. Why do they feel the way they do, and how are they interwoven with our thought processes?

The illusion of vision. It feels as though we open our eyes and just see what's out there, but the more we learn about the brain's visual system, the further it seems this is from the truth. Patients who can't see movement or recognize faces, reveal the tricks and short cuts the brain uses to construct an illusion of reality. Is the brain making up so much of what we think we're seeing that vision is really just dreaming with your eyes open?

How do our brains generate consciousness? This episode tries to explain how the brain creates consciousness.

The changes in the brain during the growth and development of a baby into an adult are explored. Susan Greenfield looks at how little of the fine structure of our brains is predetermined at birth, how the connections between nerves are constantly changing in response to what we encounter in the outside world. She explains her view that learning, memory and even the process of becoming a unique individual, should all be seen as a restless brain adapting minute by minute to the environment it encounters. Life is about how the world leaves its mark on us.